Last.



E. C. WRIGHT.

' LAST.

APPLICATION FILED APR.26. 19:3

Pat-exited Sept. 12, 1916.

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j ovemifir ELLERY C. WRIGHT, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, T916.

Application filed April 26, 1913. Serial No. 763,760.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELLE-RY C. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brockton, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in-Lasts, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, l ke letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to lasts, and is an improvement on the general type of lasts shown in my United States Patents Nos.

605,7 68 and 642,945; the object of my present invention is to improve and perfect the lasts therein shown.

In the manufacture of wooden lasts, it is necessary to provide strengthening devices for the heel portion, in order to withstand the heavy strains, blows, and pressures to which a wooden last is subjected during the manufacture of a shoe thereon, and the lasts in my prior patents above mentioned show strengthening devices for this purpose, including a transverse bolt preferably having enlarged heads thereon. The employment of these transverse bolts has been found to be very beneficial, preventing a lateral splitting of the heel portion of a wooden last, but in modern shoe factory usage where heavier machines and a hlgher speed of operation than formerly are employed, there is found to be such increased strain upon the last that the use of an ordinary thimble and transverse stay bolt has no longer proven to be sufficlent as a strengthening device. The constant pressures, hammering, and blows to which the top or cone of the heel portion is sub ected, tend to force the thimble downwardly, even when supported by a transverse bolt as explained in my prior patents, to such an e2;- tent that the wood of said top portion is squeezed down and made to broom or splinter. Such splintering of the wooden fiber is, of course, very objectionable, damaging the last, rendering it unfit for further use until repaired, and catching, tearing, or otherwise damaging the lining of a shoe.

In order to obviate the difficulties just noted, my present invention comprises strengthening means which may be advantageously employed in connection ,with the transverse stay bolts of my former patents, and which will provide a lar er and firmer hearing in the strong and duck parts of the wooden heel for the thimble, distributing the pressures transmitted by the thimble over a larger area of the wood, and thus affording a firmer seatin for said thimble, so as to prevent its being forced downwardly to such an extent as to permit the top portion of the cone to be splintered.

My invention is equally applicable to block lasts or hinge lasts, and may be applied to existing lasts in a practical and expeditious manner.

The invention contemplates the provision of a supporting bolt or member to cooperate with the usual transverse bolt under the thimble to withstand the strains and pressures transmitted through the last thimble to other portions of the wood constituting the heel of a last. This construotionenables a larger area of such wood, and preferably in the thicker and stronger parts of the heel, to resist and withstand such pressures and to prevent the thimble from being forced down, as well as to prevent the transverse bolt from sagging beyond the extent desired. Preferably also, I arrange this additional supporting member or bolt at right angles to the transverse bolt, and either directly underneath the transverse bolt and in contact therewith, or as an interlocking device, so that one bolt may aid in holding the other in its place in the wood of thelast. I prefer to so form the additional reinforcing member that the pressures and strains received by it from the last thimble will be diffused, and not transmitted merely in a vertical direction, as would be the result if such member were formed as a fiat strip or bar, but by having the supporting member with its lower bearing surface curved, the force received thereby is transmitted in an angular substantially radial direction therefrom, and is thus diffused throughout the wood of the last contacting with said member.

Further features of the invention, details of construction, and novel combinations of parts will be hereinafter pointed outand claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a last with the heel portion shown partly in section; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the thimble and heel of the last shown in Fig. 1.

The last illustrated in Fig. 1 is an ordinary type of block last, so-called, the dotted lines indicating in. a conventional manner the formation of a hinge last, and my invention being equally applicable to both types of last. The last 1 has its heel portion 2 provided with any usual type of thimble 3 fitted in a suitably bored socket 4; in the heel portion of the last. A transverse bolt 5 is also fitted in a suitable socket 6 bored therefor, and in such a position that the lower portion of the thimble 3 will rest thereon when the thimble is driven home. The transverse bolt 5 is provided with enlarged heads 7 and 8, enlarged recesses 9 and 10 respectively being counter-bored to receive the same, as shown in Fig. 2, and as fully explained in my prior patents. Wooden plugs 11 and 12 are also provided in the usual manner, to cover the heads 7 and 8 and fill the recesses 9 and 10 to afford a smooth exterior to the last where the bolt 5 is put through. The lower end of the thimble 3 may be recessed as indicated at 13 to fit over the bolt 5, if desired.

The construction just described affords a firm binding action on the sides of the lasts, which prevents splitting of the last during the blows or pressures which are applied to the top of the cone 14:, and as the bolt 5 is forced downwardly, it acts in the nature of a truss to bind the sides of the last more closely together, and thereby aid in supporting the thimble 3 as explained in my said patents. But in order to prevent the sagging downwardly to an undue extent of the transverse bolt 5, which would permit the outer edge of the thimble 3 to be forced below the surface 14 of the cone, and thereby cause the wood of the surface 141 to receive the machine blows to which the last is subjected and splinter the wood, I provide additional supporting means, preferably in the form of a second bolt or tube arranged sub stantially at right angles to the transverse bolt 5 and in contact therewith, to act as an additional support and reinforcing means therefor. It is within the scope of my invention to provide a plurality of such additional bolts or supporting members cooperating with the bolt 5, but as herein illustrated I utilize a single such additional sup porting member and arrange the same preferably at right angles to the bolt 5 and directly under the thimble 3. Such a supporting member is shown as the tube 15 which may be similar in form and strength to the member 3. This supporting member 15 is'fitted in a socket 17, bored therefor from the extreme rear portion of the heel, and in a position to intersect the bore 6 for the transverse bolt 5. The member 15 is also provided with a recessed portion 18, similar to that in the thimble 3, indicated at 13, and of appropriate size to coiiperate with the bolt 5. The member 15 being fitted into the bore 17, the transverse bolt 5 is inserted in --the bore 6 and the thimble 3 then being p0- sitioned and driven home, insures a firm contact between the bottom of the thimble, the bolt 5, and the additional reinforcing member 15. A wooden plug 19 is also arranged to fit in the bore 17 to provide a smooth exterior on the outer surface of the last. Preferably the plugs 11, 12, and 19 are glued, or otherwise secured in their respective recesses.

It will be readily appreciated that my invention provides areinforcing construction for the heel of a wooden last which will effectually retain the thimble in its proper position substantially flush with the top surface let of the cone of such heel, and prevent its sagging or being forced downwardly through continuous and repeated use, so that the wood at the top 14; will not splinter or be made to broom. It will also be seen that I have provided a construction involving substantially a double truss composed of a plurality of bolts to support the thimble in a last and to sustain said thimble in its normal position thus providing means to resist the hammering blows applied to such thimble, which means are firmly seated in the thicker portions of the wood of the heel of the last, where the last is best able to resist the same. Furthermore such strains and pressures are diffused over a very considerable extent of the wood, and hence cannot be concentrated or localized at a single point to injure any one special part of the wood, such as is the case when the last is exposed to resist pressures on its narrow top portion 14:. I also consider the interlocking feature, whereby the reinforcing and supporting member 15 is firmly held in desired position by the transverse stay bolt, to be of very decided advantage, saving the necessity of providing pins, rivets or the like for such supporting member. It will further be appreciated that one of the advantages of a round supporting member is that the force received by it and transmitted through it to the surrounding wood, is largely diffused to the wood in a radial direction instead of being concentrated at a point diametrically opposite to that on which the pressure is applied. A further advantage is that lasts at present equipped with the transverse stay bolt 5 may be also provided with the additional supporting means of my invention, by simply boring through the wood of the last and driving in a supporting member, or by withdrawing the stay bolt 5 and boring in to intersect the socket for the stay bolt in a manner similar to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, then inserting the supporting member and again positioning the transverse stay bolt. The reinforcing member 15 may, of course, be employed in the heel of a last, as illustrated herein, without the transverse stay bolt 5. When the longitudinal supporting member is utilized without the transverse bolt, or when it is applied to an existing last already equipped with a transverse bolt, the interlocking feature already described as my preferred form of the invention, will be omitted, but it is to be understood that the scope of my invention includes the use of a longitudinal reiforoing member either of the heel remote from said top, said 1ne- 20 tallic reinforcing means comprising three members, a longitudinally positioned tubular member, a transverse bolt interlocking with said tubular member, and a vertically positioned thimble in contact with both the 25 longitudinal tubular member and the transverse bolt and interlocking therewith, which thimble extends to the top of the last, whereby the lower part of said thimble is firmly seated upon both metallic longitudinal and 30 transverse reinforcing members.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

; ELLERY C. WRIGHT.

Witnesses J AMES R. HODDER, R. G. HERsEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

